Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend

Humdinger1

I hope this isn't too political but knowing your views @foxgloves have you seen the stand-out report from this morning's Covid enquiry? Halfwit H*nc*ck thought that if the NHS was overwhelmed, he - not doctors, not the public- should decide who should live and who should die?! I'm beginning to realise that the anxiety felt by so many was justified....xx

Suffolk_lass

foxgloves said:

@PennysIntoPounds - That's a viable idea, thanks. I will have a look in town on Friday to assess cost & decide. We are heading past a Sains*s on Sat on our way into city centre, if we did decide to use nectar, but it will depend on how much irons are priced at locally.

I do envy all the non-ironers amongst our number. I am not one of these people who insists on ironing underwear, tea-towels, etc, but I do have clothes which require it. Most non-iron clothes seem to be of the 'ath-leisure' variety & this is not a style that suits me. I quite envy those who look good in it, but I am not one of them & would sadly look like an old sofa that had been put out for council collection. Having said that, I iron as little as I can get away with. I like crisp cotton bedding though, so that is all ironed. Very tedious, but worth it when I get into a lovely fresh crisp bed.
F

Ha! I probably look like the old sofa but in my head I am still Steffi Graf

foxgloves

@Humdinger1 - Yes, I am following the enquiry & agree that was outrageous on behalf of the person you mention. Some shocking stuff coming out. When there was reluctance initially to hand over WhatsApp messages, I remember saying to Mr F, "I bet the language & attitudes used in those message groups is just awful, full of machismo posturing & effing & blinding". And I didn't need to be Nostradamus of Foxgloves Manor to be right on that score, did I? I worked in the public sector almost all my working life & I simply cannot IMAGINE anyone using that kind of language in any work-related correspondence & not being on an instant disciplinary. Despite my utter lack of esteem for these people, even my jaw dropped to the floor when I read the story about the Leader Who Had To Leave allegedly messaging the Chief Medical Officers a Y*uT*be video of someone blowing a hairdryer up their nose to kill covid & asking if this could be the way forward. It didn't help either that most of the more moderate & experience ministers were sacked & replaced with brexitty yes-men. Honestly, this country!!

@kayannie - I did once wrap a present for my Mum in a piece of Christmas fabric. I knew she would use it for her craft projects so would look upon it as an extra gift. The Japanese use cloth to wrap gifts as a traditional art form (furoshiki) - It looks good, but probably beyond me.....although my origami stars are improving. I can make one without reference to the instructions now & am still intending to make a supply to use on gifts instead of plasticised ribbons. No cost involved as so far, as I am just making them with recycled Christmas paper.

@2Scratters - I know just what you mean about those sorts of task - the ones which sit there, despite only taking a very small amount of time to do. I remember from a management course years ago, we were doing the module on time management & one tip was that if a task would only take 30 minutes or less, then it should be done immediately. I still try to stick to that now, as it tends to be little things like putting something in the bin or recycling, popping something away, wiping up a spill, etc. Tiny things & as the tip said, probably less than 30 seconds to accomplish, but once left, & added to others that have been left, well, we all know that we are soon looking at a small pile.....which then starts to grow.....& before long, it is an actual job, instead of a few things which we wouldn't even have noticed had we dealt with each of them at the time.

@Suffolk_lass - Lol, nothing wrong with loving your inner Steffi!
F

themadvix

I made drawstring bags for Christmas present wrapping last year - some with an old cream duvet cover and festive ribbon for drawstring and a couple from festive fat quarters for a bit of contrast. I'm afraid though, @kayannie, I asked for them back! 

foxgloves

Afternoon Frugalistas,
Off downstairs to make a pasta bake shortly, but am just kicking in today's small budget-helping positives:
*Ordered a new iron & made myself a note to transfer funds from the House & Garden savings pot when the transaction appears on my CC. I will get loyalty CC points on the purchase & have done click & collect so no delivery charge or mileage. Went for a cheaper model with good reviews & a 3-year guarantee. At least £10 less than some of the ones Mr F was looking at. I don't care enough for ironing to need any additional functionality other than heat & a bit of steam.
*Spent the morning continuing present-wrapping & sorting out my HQ. Looks much better now. I do have bags of people's wrapped presents in there now, but I can access my shelves so a big improvement.
*Have re-used last year's gift bags where possible but was short by one large one. I put that person's presents in a box but it looked so un-festive compared to the bags, I decided to gussy it up in a no-spend way. It was very quick & easy to do. I just cut large squares of recycled wrapping paper & glued them to the box like patchwork. Then I found a length of recycled ribbon I'd saved from something & glued it around the top edge. It probably sounds like a complete pig's breakfast how I'm describing it, but it really does look festive & cost now't.
*Wrote a town list for tomorrow.
*Wrote a city centre list for Saturday.
*Heard from supermarket re tonight's grocery delivery - one item missing - the item we have been struggling to get recently (powdered milk) as we won't pay the price differential on branded, was in stock so I can replenish emergency supplies.
*Transferred £50 from my Personal Spends to my Personal Spends Savings. I don't particularly need anything at the moment, apart from the usual coffees, toiletries, etc, so thought it may as well be earning a bit of interest than sitting on its bottom doing nothing.
*Did a couple of surveys.
*Will be doing a swift triage of the fridge & veg basket shortly to see if there is anything which needs using up & could go in tonight's pasta bake. 
Well, that is my lot for today. I hope those readers in the storm-tossed areas of the UK are ok. It sounds horrendous in the Channel Islands. We have had rain today & breezy, but nothing as worrying as the recent week of flooding. Hope you are all safe & dry.
F x

milann

I’m impressed with all the Christmas wrapping…..I have to get presents first 😳 haven’t got a clue what to buy anyone this year. I have been given a stash of Christmas material and making bags is a great idea. Just need the presents so I know what size to make them. 

Enjoy the iron 👍😂😏 it’s something that we real don’t want to spend money on

Tescodealqueen

I made quite a few material gift bags last year . When I gave the gift I asked the recipient to feel free to reuse them but if they felt they wouldn’t use them asked them to return to me. Was delighted to have a friend hand me a birthday gift in the bag which I had presented hers.

PennysIntoPounds

themadvix said:

I made drawstring bags for Christmas present wrapping last year - some with an old cream duvet cover and festive ribbon for drawstring and a couple from festive fat quarters for a bit of contrast. I'm afraid though, @kayannie, I asked for them back! 

Quite right @themadvix 😁
Mr PIP puts together a hamper for some of his close relatives every Christmas and last year we said 'right, we have saved these cardboard boxes from landfill by getting them from Olio, in the pouring rain might I add, to be environmentally friendly, and carefully wrapped them in festive wrapping paper, which is not in either of our skill sets, so if you want a hamper next year you have to give us the boxes back' 😂
We'll see how that actually turns out! 

PennysIntoPounds

Well done on sorting out the iron @foxgloves, I can just imagine how excited you are to get back to your ironing sessions!
Lovely work on the festiving-up of the box too, there's very little in life more satisfying than finding a solution for nowt 😁

foxgloves

I like the idea of fabric gift bags. I think 2 of the people for whom we biy presents would re-use them or give them back, so maybe that's something I might do in future. 
Strong cardboard boxes covered with festive paper are great for hampers. Mine contain lots of jars, as I do lots of preserving, so I need something in which I can stand them upright. 
Only got 1 to do this year.
F